Motion Control/​Automation

An Effective Roadmap to Mobile Automation

To achieve the numerous benefits of mobile automation, manufacturers must take some key implementation considerations into account and follow essential guidelines. Doing so ensures that they apply the right mobile automation solution.

Leveraging Virtual Twins for Manufacturing Excellence

CenterLine’s successful adoption of the virtual twin showcases the technology’s tremendous potential for the automation industry. As virtual twin technology continues to evolve, it will disrupt industries even further.

Leading the Way to Cyber Safety on Roads and Highways

CYBER-CARE — the Transportation Cybersecurity Center for Advanced Research and Education — is a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) University Transportation Center (UTC), Tier...

Magnetic Robots Walk, Crawl, and Swim

New soft-bodied robots that can be controlled by a simple magnetic field are well suited to work in confined spaces. The robots, formed from rubbery magnetic spirals, can be programmed to walk, crawl,...

Diesel Engine Research Leading to Better Efficiency, Emissions Standards on the Roads

Purdue University’s Greg Shaver doesn’t believe there should be a trade-off between protecting the air we breathe and achieving better engine...

A Gentle-Yet-Strong, Dexterous, Precise, Robotic Gripper

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a robotic gripping device that is gentle, strong, dexterous, and precise enough to pick up microfilms that are 20 times thinner than a human hair.

How Much Do You Know About Sensor Fusion for Navigation Systems?

Sensor fusion is an important element of navigation systems especially with the rapid growth of driving automation. At each step of the levels of driving automation from ADAS toward driverless vehicles, sensor fusion becomes more critical.

New Ferroelectric Material Could Give Robots Muscles

A new type of ferroelectric polymer that is exceptionally good at converting electrical energy into mechanical strain holds promise as a high-performance motion controller or...

Training Robots How to Learn, Make Decisions on the Fly

Mars rovers have teams of human experts on Earth telling them what to do. But robots on lander missions to moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter are too far away to receive timely commands...

Robots Learn from Videos

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have enabled robots to learn household chores by watching videos of people performing everyday tasks in their homes.

How Much Do You Know About Soft Robots?

Unlike rigid-body robots, which have a finite number of joints and thus limited freedom, soft robots are made of flexible materials and operate by continuous deformation. So, how much do you know about soft robots? Find out with this quiz.

2023 Guide to Motors

Motion Design’s 2023 Guide to Motors provides a comprehensive list of today’s top manufacturers in many technology fields.

Highly Dexterous Robot Hand Can Operate in the Dark

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have demonstrated a highly dexterous robot hand, one that combines an advanced sense of touch with motor learning algorithms in order to achieve a high level of dexterity.

Caterpillar-Inspired Soft Robotics Locomotion

Researchers have demonstrated a caterpillar-like soft robot that can move forward, backward, and even dip under narrow spaces. Its movement is driven by a novel pattern of silver nanowires.

Mind-Controlling Machines

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have developed biosensor technology that will allow you to operate devices, such as robots and machines, solely through thought-control.

Tapping the Brain to Boost Stroke Rehabilitation

A brain-machine interface coupled with robot offers increased benefits for stroke survivors.

Drones Navigate Unseen Environments via Liquid Neural Networks

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have introduced a method for robust flight navigation agents to master vision-based fly-to-target tasks in intricate, unfamiliar environments.

Six Considerations When Choosing Machine Vision in Collaborative Applications

Machine vision dates back to the beginning of the modern industrial robot age in the 1980s. Augmenting cobots with vision allows them to perform with higher precision, flexibility, and intelligence. However, integration is not a one-size-fits-all process.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a spoofing device, a deployable electrode, and a snake robot.

Direct Drive Motors: Delivering Reliability, Precision, and Performance

Direct drive motors have a long-standing history as a technology that has continually evolved and improved. This article introduces the technology behind direct drive motors, explores their advantages, and discusses example applications.

How to Select the Right Cobot for Your Application

Capitalizing on the benefits cobots, of course, requires choosing the right cobot for the job. This article discusses five key considerations for selecting a cobot for your manufacturing application.

New Products

See the new products, including digital servo drives, the PM2 pinion series from Neugart, valve controller modules, electric cylinders, and more.

Biomimetic “Myriapod” Robot Relies on Dynamic Instability to Navigate

Researchers have invented a new kind of walking robot that takes advantage of dynamic instability to navigate. By changing the flexibility of the couplings, the robot can be made to turn without the need for complex computational control systems.

A Gripper That Grasps by Reflex

Looking to give robots a more nimble, human-like touch, MIT engineers have now developed a gripper that grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the robot adapts in the moment.

Four-Legged Robotic System Walks a Balance Beam

Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have designed a system that makes an off-the-shelf quadruped robot nimble enough to walk a narrow balance beam — a feat that is likely the first of its kind.

An Underwater Robot for Ocean Cleanup

One of the strategies to combat the mounds of waste found in oceans — especially around coral reefs — is to employ robots to master the cleanup. However, existing underwater robots are mostly bulky with rigid bodies, unable to explore and sample in complex and unstructured environments, and are noisy due to electrical motors or hydraulic pumps.

Improved Grasping with an Energy-Efficient Robotic Hand

Grasping objects is a problem that is easy for a human, but challenging for a robot. Researchers designed a soft, 3D-printed robotic hand that cannot independently move its fingers but can still carry out a range of complex movements.

North Sea Rig Operators Discover a Solution for Frequently Tangled Service Loops

A company from Denmark found a problem with its oil rig, where wind caused service loops to swing, become entangled and snag, resulting in downtime. The company solved the problem with a 33.5-meter e-loop from igus, the Germany-based manufacturer of high-performance plastics.